For nearly two decades, the Lawrence baseball team, a collegiate prospect factory of sorts, has owned the Tarheel Independent Conference. A brand recognized as one of the most successful high school baseball programs in the state, the Warriors’ hold on the conference has gone virtually uncontested.

One of the best Pungo teams ever fielded managed to take a 9-5-road contest over Lawrence in 2014, but still finished behind the perennial baseball powerhouse in the conference. This year, with the Raiders losing some key pieces, a Terra Ceia team navigated by head coach Jason Wynne and consisting of just one senior maintained high expectations, despite the program having never finished above .500.

“When I reflect upon the year, it’s pretty much the culmination of the program me and Roger Klaassen put together years back,” Wynne said. “The idea we had in mind was to see if Terra Ceia could have a competitive program. For several years, they weren’t very competitive at all and there were years where they didn’t even have a program. With the skills and attention to detail these kids had during the year, it just made us a better team.”

While other teams in the county had difficulty closing ballgames in the final innings, the Knights developed a flair for the dramatic, becoming accustomed to late-inning rallies, timely home runs and clutch pitching performances. Production generated from youth, mostly its sophomore class, carried Terra Ceia to its most successful campaign in program history — a 15-6 overall record, a second-place finish in the conference, a TIC tournament championship appearance, two wins over rival Pungo (a first) and the team’s maiden playoff appearance versus Shannon Forest (Greenville, S.C.) on May 5. A school with one of the smallest enrollments in Beaufort County fielded the only high school baseball team that finished with a winning record in 2015.

“Previous years we had kids, regardless of the sport — basketball, baseball, soccer, whatever — you get down a little bit and here we are at the same cycle,” Wynne said. “You put your head down and it’s over. We had to change that mentality, change that culture.”

“If everyone does what they’re supposed to do, individually, then collectively as a team good things are going to happen. Once you buy into that philosophy, good things usually do happen.”

For his efforts leading the Knights to their best season in school history, Wynne has been named the 2015 Washington Daily News Baseball Coach of the Year.

Even facing significant deficits in the late innings, Wynne felt like his team was never out of it and that attitude certainly rubbed off on the players. That mindset materialized during the final week of the season when the Knights, down 7-3 against Northeast, posted five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to advance to the title game, where they eventually fell to Lawrence, 3-2.

A week later, the team hosted its inaugural playoff game at the Susiegray McConnell Complex in Washington against Shannon Forest, a strong offensive team with one of the top players in NCISAA 1-A in senior Ben McGrey. Again, Terra Ceia faced a 7-3 deficit in the bottom up the seventh and again, the Knights’ bats would deliver with an improbable two-out rally. After a pair of hits and a couple of stolen bases, the lead was cut to two runs. Then, Leland Stotesberry tied the game with one swing, a towering shot over the fence in left field.

The Knights eventually fell in extras, but the comeback was one of the more commendable efforts on the season.

“That’s the resilience that these guys showed,” Wynne said. “We preached to them in the beginning of the year, it doesn’t matter who we play. It’s not over until it’s over, so we need to keep fighting back. Until the umpire raises his hands and says ballgame, you keep playing the game to the best of your ability and keep yourself in it mentally and physically. Our guys really, just passed the midway point in the season, started to understand that philosophy and stuck with it.’

The season may be in the books, but the process is not yet complete. Wynne believes his core group of sophomores, along with juniors like Chase Furlough, should be considered even more of a threat to dethrone Lawrence in 2016.